Image processing apparatus for inputting characters using touch panel, control method thereof and storage medium

ABSTRACT

An object is to implement deletion of an already-input character string in a UI screen by a simpler operation without using a dedicated deletion button. An input character string is deleted in a case where a user selects the same character string as the character string used for a touch input.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The technique of the present invention relates to a character inputtechnique using a touch panel.

Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, in order to delete a character string that is input witha touch panel, a dedicated deletion button is provided in many cases.However, in a case of a general deletion button, it is only possible todelete one character each time, and therefore, for example, it isnecessary for a user who desires to shorten an automatically input filename that is too long to operate the deletion button repeatedly in orderto obtain a desired file name. Further, also in a case where a characterstring is input erroneously, it is necessary for a user to move his/herfinger up to the deletion button and perform the operation each time. Asregards this point, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2016-186717 hasdisclosed a technique that obviates repetition of the button operationby returning the state to the state before conversion by one-timeoperation of the deletion button in a case where a character string isinput erroneously by predictive conversion. Further, Japanese PatentLaid-Open No. 2012-243229 has disclosed a technique to replace, in acase where a character that is not intended is input by an erroneoustouch operation, the erroneously input character with a peripheralcharacter that is originally desired to be input in response to theoperation to touch and slide the same character.

According to the technique of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2016-186717described above, time and effort taken by operating the deletion buttonmany times are eliminated, but it is not possible to eliminate theoperation of the deletion button itself. Further, even with thetechnique of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-243229, in a case wherea user does not intend to input a character string originally but theuser touches the touch panel erroneously, only the way to delete theinput character is to operate the deletion button, and therefore, it isnecessary for a user to move his/her finger or the like to the deletionbutton.

The technique of the present invention has been made in order to dealwith the above-described problem. That is, an object is to implementdeletion of an already-input character string by a simpler operationwithout using a dedicated deletion button.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The image processing apparatus according to the present invention is animage processing apparatus for setting a property to a scanned imageobtained by scanning a document, and includes: a user interface unithaving a touch panel; detecting a character area from the scanned image;and controlling to display a UI screen for setting a property to thescanned image on the touch panel, and on the UI screen, an input fieldfor inputting a character string configuring the property exists and ina case where a user selects a character area by a touch operation fromamong detected character areas, the controlling further includes:adding, in a case where a character string corresponding to the selectedcharacter area is not input in the input field, the character string tothe input field; and deleting, in a case where a character stringcorresponding to the selected character area is input already in theinput field, the character string from the input field.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments with reference to theattached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an entire configuration of an imageprocessing system;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an MFP;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an MFPcooperative server and a storage server;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a software configuration of the imageprocessing system;

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing of the entireimage processing system;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a Main menu screen;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a Login screen;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a Scan setting screen;

FIG. 9A is a diagram showing an example of a request ID and FIG. 9B andFIG. 9C are each a diagram showing an example of a response to aninquiry about a processing situation;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a File name setting screen;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a learning request;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in the MFP;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a scanned image;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a File name condition settingscreen;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of character recognitionresults;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of similar business formdetermination results;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a scanned image;

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a relationship between FIGS. 18A and 18B,and FIGS. 18A and 18B are flowcharts showing a flow of file name settingprocessing in the MFP;

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a relationship between FIGS. 19A and 19B,and FIGS. 19A and 19B are flowcharts showing a flow of file name settingprocessing in the MFP;

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an initial display portion of a previewarea;

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of the File name setting screen;

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a soft keyboard;

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of the File name setting screenon which an operation guidance is displayed;

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of the File name setting screenin a case where a touch operation is performed for a character area; and

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an initial display portion of a previewarea in a case where an initial magnification is adjusted.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, with reference to the attached drawings, the presentinvention is explained in detail in accordance with preferredembodiments. Configurations shown in the following embodiments aremerely exemplary and the present invention is not limited to theconfigurations shown schematically.

First Embodiment

<System Configuration>

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the entire configuration of an imageprocessing system according to the present embodiment. The imageprocessing system includes an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) 110 andserver apparatuses 120 and 130 providing cloud services on the internet.The MFP 110 is connected with the server apparatuses 120 and 130 so asto be capable of communication via the internet.

The MFP 110 is an example of an information processing apparatus havingthe scan function. The MFP 110 is a multifunction peripheral having aplurality of functions, such as the print function and the BOX savefunction, in addition to the scan function. Both the server apparatuses120 and 130 are each an example of an information processing apparatusproviding cloud services. The server apparatus 120 of the presentembodiment provides cloud services to perform an image analysis for ascanned image received from the MFP 110, transfer a request from the MFP110 to the server apparatus 130 providing another service, and so on. Inthe following, the cloud service provided by the server apparatus 120 iscalled “MFP cooperative service”. The server apparatus 130 providescloud services (hereinafter, called “storage services”) to save a filesent via the internet, provide a saved file in response to a requestfrom a web browser, such as a mobile terminal (not shown schematically),and so on. In the present embodiment, the server apparatus 120 thatprovides the MFP cooperative service is called “MFP cooperative server”and the server apparatus 130 that provides the storage service is called“storage server”.

The configuration of an image processing system 100 shown in FIG. 1 isan example and the configuration is not limited to this. For example,the MFP 110 may also have the function of the MFP cooperative server120. Further, the MFP cooperative server 120 may be connected with theMFP 110 via a LAN (Local Area Network) in place of the internet.Furthermore, it may also be possible to replace the storage server 130with a mail server that performs a mail distribution service and applythe system to a case of transmitting a scanned image of a document byattaching it to a mail.

<Hardware Configuration of MFP>

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the MFP110. The MFP 110 includes a control unit 210, an operation unit 220, aprinter unit 221, a scanner unit 222, and a modem 223. The control unit210 includes each of units 211 to 219 below and controls the operationof the entire MFP 110. The CUP 211 reads various control programs(programs corresponding to various functions shown in the softwareconfiguration diagram, to be described later) stored in the ROM 212 andexecutes the programs. The RAM 213 is used as a temporary storage area,such as a main memory and a work area, of the CPU 211. In presentembodiment, the one CPU 211 performs each piece of processing shown inthe flowchart, to be described later, by using one memory (RAM 213 orHDD 214), but the embodiment is not limited to this. For example, it mayalso be possible to perform each piece of processing by causing aplurality of CPUs and a plurality of RAMs or HDDs to cooperate with eachother. The HDD 214 is a large-capacity storage unit configured to storeimage data and various programs. The operation unit I/F 215 is aninterface that connects the operation unit 220 and the control unit 210.The operation unit 220 is provided with a touch panel, a keyboard, andthe like and receives operations/inputs/instructions by a user. Thetouch operation to the touch panel includes the operation by a finger ofa person and the operation with a touch pen. The printer I/F 216 is aninterface that connects the printer unit 221 and the control unit 210.Image data for printing is transferred from the control unit 210 to theprinter unit 221 via the printer I/F 216 and printed on a printingmedium, such as paper. The scanner I/F 217 is an interface that connectsthe scanner unit 222 and the control unit 210. The scanner unit 222optically reads a document that is set on a document table or ADF (AutoDocument Feeder), not shown schematically, to generate scanned imagedata and inputs the data to the control unit 210 via the scanner I/F217. It is possible to print (copy and output) the scanned image datagenerated by the scanner unit 222 in the printer unit 221, save the datain the HDD 214, transmit the data as a file to an external apparatus,such as the MFP cooperative server 120, and so on. The modem I/F 218 isan interface that connects the modem 223 and the control unit 210. Themodem 223 communicates the image data by a facsimile with a facsimiledevice (not shown schematically) on PSTN. The network I/F 219 is aninterface that connects the control unit 210 (MFP 110) to a LAN. The MFP110 transmits scanned image data to the MFP cooperative server 120 byusing the network I/F 219, receives various kinds of data from the MFPcooperative server 120, and so on. The hardware configuration of the MFP110 explained above is an example and the hardware configuration maycomprise another configuration as needed or may not have a part of theconfiguration.

<Hardware Configuration of Server Apparatus>

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the MFPcooperative server 120/the storage server 130. The MFP cooperativeserver 120 and the storage server 130 have the common hardwareconfiguration including a CPU 311, a ROM 312, a RAM 313, an HDD 314, anda network I/F 315. The CPU 311 controls the entire operation by readingcontrol programs stored in the ROM 312 and performing various kinds ofprocessing. The RAM 313 is used as a temporary storage area, such as amain memory and a work area, of the CPU 311. The HDD 314 is alarge-capacity storage unit configured to store image data and variousprograms. The network I/F 315 is an interface that connects a controlunit 310 to the internet. The MFP cooperative server 120 and the storageserver 130 receive requests for various kinds of processing from otherapparatuses (MFP 110 and the like) via the network I/F 315 and returnprocessing results in accordance with the requests.

<Software Configuration of Image Processing System>

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the software configuration of theimage processing system 100 according to the present embodiment. In thefollowing, the software configuration corresponding to the role of eachof the MFP 110, the MFP cooperative server 120, and the storage server130, which configure the image processing system 100, is explained inorder. In the following, explanation is given by narrowing the variousfunctions possessed by each apparatus to the functions relating to theprocessing to scan a document and transform the scanned image into afile, and then save the file in the storage server 130.

<<Software Configuration of MFP>>

The function modules of the MFP 110 are roughly divided into a nativefunction module 410 and an additional function module 420. While thenative function module 410 is an application provided as a standard onein the MFP 110, the additional function module 420 is an applicationthat is installed additionally in the MFP 110. The additional functionmodule 420 is an application based on Java (registered trademark) and itis possible to easily implement the addition of a function to the MFP110. In the MFP 110, another additional application, not shownschematically, may be installed.

The native function module 410 has a scan execution unit 411 and ascanned image management unit 412. Further, the additional functionmodule 420 has a display control unit 421, a scan control unit 422, acooperative service request unit 423, and an image processing unit 424.

The display control unit 421 displays a user interface screen (UIscreen) for receiving various user operations on a touch panel of theoperation unit 220. The various user operations include, for example,inputting of log-in authentication information for accessing the MFPcooperative server 120, scan setting, giving of scan start instructions,file name setting, giving of file save instructions, and the like.

The scan control unit 422 gives instructions to perform scan processingto the scan execution unit 411 along with scan setting information inaccordance with the user operation (for example, pressing down of “Startscan” button) performed on the UI screen. The scan execution unit 411causes the scanner unit 240 to perform the document reading operationvia the scanner I/F 217 and generates scanned image data in accordancewith the instructions to perform scan processing from the scan controlunit 422. The generated scanned image data is saved in the HDD 214 bythe scanned image management unit 412. At this time, the scan controlunit 422 is notified of information on a scanned image identifieruniquely indicating the saved scanned image data. The scanned imageidentifier is a number, symbol, or alphabet, for uniquely identifyingthe image scanned in the MFP 110. The scan control unit 422 acquires,for example, the target scanned image data that is transformed into afile from the scanned image management unit 412 by using theabove-described scanned image identifier. Then, the scan control unit422 instructs the cooperative service request unit 423 to make a requestfor the processing necessary for transforming the scanned image datainto a file to the MFP cooperative server 120.

The cooperative service request unit 423 makes requests for variouskinds of processing to the MFP cooperative server 120, receivesresponses thereof, and so on. The various kinds of processing include,for example, log-in authentication, scanned image analysis, scannedimage data transmission, and the like. For transmission and receptionwith the MFP cooperative server 120, the communication protocol, such asREST and SOAP, is used.

The image processing unit 424 generates an image used on the UI screenthat is displayed by the display control unit 421 by performingpredetermined image processing for scanned image data. Details of thepredetermined image processing will be described later.

<<Software Configuration of Server Apparatus>>

First, the software configuration of the MFP cooperative server 120 isexplained. The MFP cooperative server 120 has a request control unit431, an image processing unit 432, a storage server access unit 433, adata management unit 434, and a display control unit 435. The requestcontrol unit 431 stands by in the state of being capable of receiving arequest from an external apparatus and instructs the image processingunit 432, the storage server access unit 433, and the data managementunit 434 to perform predetermined processing in accordance with receivedrequest contents. The image processing unit 432 performs imagemodification processing, such as rotation and inclination correction, inaddition to image analysis processing, such as character area detectionprocessing, character recognition processing, and similar documentdetermination processing, for scanned image data that is sent from theMFP 110. The storage server access unit 433 makes a request forprocessing to the storage server 130. The cloud service discloses avariety of interfaces for saving files in the storage server, foracquiring saved files, and so on, by using the protocol, such as RESTand SOAP. The storage server access unit 433 makes a request to thestorage server 130 by using the disclosed interface. The data managementunit 434 stores and manages user information, various kinds of settingdata, and the like, which are managed in the MFP cooperative server 120.The display control unit 435 receives a request from the web browserrunning on a PC or a mobile terminal (neither of them is shownschematically) connected via the internet and returns screenconfiguration information (HTML, CSS, and the like) that is necessaryfor the screen display. It is possible for a user to check theregistered user information, change the scan setting, and so on, via thescreen displayed on the web browser.

Next, the software configuration of the storage server 130 is explained.The storage server 130 has a request control unit 441, a file managementunit 442, and a display control unit 443. The request control unit 441stands by in the state of being capable of receiving a request from anexternal apparatus and in the present embodiment, instructs the filemanagement unit 442 to save the received file and read the saved file inaccordance with a request from the MFP cooperative server 120. Then, therequest control unit 441 returns a response in accordance with therequest to the MFP cooperative server 120. The display control unit 443receives a request from a web browser running on a PC or a mobileterminal (neither of them is shown schematically) connected via theinternet and returns screen configuration information (HTML, CSS, andthe like) that is necessary for the screen display. It is possible for auser to check and acquire the saved file, and so on, via the screen thatis displayed on the web browser.

<Flow of Processing of Entire Image Processing System>

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram of a flow of processing among theapparatuses at the time of scanning a document in the MFP 110,transforming the obtained scanned image into a file, and saving the filein the storage server. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a UIscreen of a Main menu (hereinafter described as “Main screen”) that isdisplayed at the time of the activation of the MFP 110. By scanning adocument and transforming the scanned image into a file and installing adedicated application necessary to use the cloud storage service in theMFP 110, a “Scan and save in cloud storage” button 601 is displayed on aMain screen 600. Then, in a case where a user presses down the “Scan andsave in cloud storage” button 601 among the menu buttons displayedwithin the Main screen 600, the series of processing shown in thesequence diagram in FIG. 5 starts. In the following, in accordance withthe sequence diagram in FIG. 5, the operations among the apparatuses areexplained in a time series. In the following explanation, symbol “S”represents a step.

The MFP 110 displays a UI screen (hereinafter, described as “Loginscreen”) on which to input information on log-in authentication foraccessing the MFP cooperative server 120 on the operation unit 220(S501). FIG. 7 shows an example of a Login screen. In a case where auser inputs a user ID and a password, which are registered in advance,in input fields 702 and 703, respectively, on a Login screen 700 andpresses down a “Login” button 701, a request for log-in authenticationis transmitted to the MFP cooperative server 120 (S502).

The MFP cooperative server 120 having received the request for log-inauthentication performs authentication processing by using the user IDand the password, which are included in the request (S503). In a casewhere it is checked that the user is a genuine user by the results ofthe authentication, the MFP cooperative server 120 returns an accesstoken to the MFP 110. After this, by sending this access token togetherat the time of various requests made by the MFP 110 to the MFPcooperative server 120, a log-in user is specified. In the presentembodiment, it is assumed that at the same time the login to the MFPcooperative server 120 is completed, the login to the storage server 130is also completed. Because of this, a user performs in advanceassociation between the user ID for using the MFP cooperative serviceand the user ID for using the storage service via a web browser or thelike of the PC (not shown schematically) on the internet. Due to this,in a case where the log-in authentication to the MFP cooperative server120 succeeds, the log-in authentication to the storage server 130 isalso completed at the same time and it is possible to omit the operationto log in to the storage server 130. Then, it is made possible for theMFP cooperative server 120 to deal with a request relating to thestorage service from a user who has logged in to the MFP cooperativeserver 120. Generally, it is possible to perform the log-inauthentication method by using a publicly known method (Basicauthentication, Digest authentication, authentication using OAuth, andthe like).

In a case where login is completed, the MFP 110 displays a UI screen forscan setting (hereinafter, described as “Scan setting screen”) on theoperation unit 220 (S504). FIG. 8 shows an example of a Scan settingscreen. On a Scan setting screen 800, a “Start scan” button 801, a Colorsetting field 802, and a Resolution setting field 803 exist. The “Startscan” button 801 is a button for giving instructions to start scanprocessing for a document (in the present embodiment, a business form,such as an estimation form and a bill, is supposed) that is set on thedocument table. In the Color setting field 802, a color mode at the timeof scan is set. For example, the Color setting field 802 is designed sothat it is possible to specify the color mode from alternatives, forexample, such as full color and monochrome. In the Resolution settingfield 803, the resolution at the time of scan is set. The Resolutionsetting field 803 is designed so that it is possible to specify theresolution from alternatives, for example, such as 600 dpi and 1,200dpi. The setting items of the color mode and the resolution are merelyexemplary and all of these items do not need to exist or another settingitem other than those may exist. Further, it may also be possible tolimit the alternatives relating to the color mode and the resolutiononly to the setting values required by the storage service. A log-inuser performs detailed condition setting for the scan processing via theScan setting screen 800 such as this. In a case where a user who hascompleted the scan setting sets a scan-target document on the documenttable of the MFP 110 and presses down the “Start scan” button 801, thescan is performed (S505). Due to this, image data obtained bycomputerizing a paper document is generated. After the completion of thescan, the MFP 110 transmits the image data obtained by the scan to theMFP cooperative server 120 along with the analysis request thereof(S506).

In the MFP cooperative server 120 having received the request toanalysis the scanned image, the request control unit 431 instructs theimage processing unit 432 to perform image analysis processing (S507).At that time, the request control unit 431 returns a request ID capableof uniquely specifying the received analysis request to the MFP 110.FIG. 9A shows an example of the request ID. On the other hand, the imageprocessing unit 432 having received the instructions to perform analysisprocessing performs the analysis processing for the scanned image(S508). In this image analysis processing, first, processing to detectthe character area (text block) existing within the scanned image isperformed. For the detection of the character area, it is possible toapply an already-known method, for example, such as a method ofextracting a rectangular area that is predicted as a character from theimage for which binarization has been performed with a certain thresholdvalue. Next, optical character recognition (OCR) is performed for eachcharacter area detected by the character area detection processing.Then, processing to determine whether the scan-target business form ofthis time is similar to the past scan-target business form is performed(similar document determination processing). The determination of thesimilar business form uses arrangement information indicating whichposition of the scanned image each character area existing within thescanned image is located at. Specifically, the arrangement informationabout the past scanned image and the arrangement information about thescanned image of this time are compared and whether the arrangement ofthe character area is similar is determined. This is based on the factthat in a case where the arrangement of the character area is similar,it is possible to predict that the business forms are created by usingthe same format. The arrangement information on the past scanned image,which is used for the determination of the similar business form, isaccumulated by “business form learning processing”, to be describedlater. The results obtained by the image analysis processing aredelivered to the request control unit 431. In the present embodiment,the similarity between the business forms is determined based on onlythe similarity between the arrangements of the character areas, but forexample, it may also be possible to specify the type of the businessform (estimation form, bill, and the like) based on the OCR results anddetermine the similarity by taking into consideration the obtained typeinformation.

While the above-described image analysis processing is in progress, theMFP 110 makes an inquiry about the processing situation periodically(for example, every hundreds of milliseconds to every severalmilliseconds) to the MFP cooperative server 120 by using theabove-described request ID (S509 to S509′). This inquiry is maderepeatedly until the completion response of the image analysisprocessing from the MFP cooperative server 120 is acquired (S510). Uponreceipt of the inquiry about the processing situation, the MFPcooperative server 120 checks the progress situation of the imageanalysis processing corresponding to the request ID and returns aresponse (see FIG. 9B) indicating that the processing is in progress ina case where the image analysis processing is not completed yet. In acase where the image analysis processing is completed, the MFPcooperative server 120 returns a response (see FIG. 9C) indicating theimage analysis processing is completed. In “status” of this response, acharacter string indicating the current processing situation is input,specifically, in a case where the processing is in progress in the MFPcooperative server 120, “processing” is input and in a case where theprocessing is completed, “completed” is input. There is a case where acharacter string indicating another status is input, such as “failed” ona condition that the processing has failed. As shown in FIG. 9C, in theresponse at the time of completion of the processing, in addition to thestatus information, information relating to the analysis results of thescanned image and the like are included.

After receiving the processing completion response, the MFP 110 makes arequest for the results of the image analysis processing to the MFPcooperative server 120 by using the URL indicating the storagedestination of the image analysis results, which is included in theresponse (S511). As the URL in this case, there are “ocrResultUrl” and“matchingResultUrl”. Upon receipt of the request, the request controlunit 431 of the MFP cooperative server 120 returns results informationon the image analysis processing.

Then, the MFP 110 displays a UI screen (hereinafter, described as “Filename setting screen”) for setting a file name by using the acquiredresults information (S512). FIG. 10 shows an example of a File namesetting screen. In a case where a user sets a file name and presses downa Transmit button 1007, the MFP 110 first transmits a learning requestincluding information (input information at the time of setting)relating to the input operation performed by a user at the time ofsetting the file name to the MFP cooperative server 120 (S513). FIG. 11shows an example of the learning request. The learning contents arespecified in “learningContent” and in which there are “rectInfoArray”relating to the character area used for the file name and“metadataArray” relating to metadata. In “rectInforArray”, thecoordinate information on the character area used at the time of thefile name setting is input. In “metadataArray”, the information on thecharacter area corresponding to the character string used for the filename and the information on the separator attached to the characterstring are input. The example in FIG. 11 indicates that the file nameconfiguration is such that the front is the character string of thecharacter area of “fileRegion0”, the next is the separator, and the endis the character string of the character area of “fileRegion1” and theseare arranged in this order.

In the MFP cooperative server 120 having received the learning request,the request control unit 431 instructs the image processing unit 432 toperform business form learning processing (S514). Upon receipt of theinstructions, the image processing unit 432 saves the arrangementinformation on each character area existing in the scanned image and theinput information (file name configuration information) at the time ofthe file name setting included in the learning request received at S513.

After that, the MFP 110 transmits a request to save the scanned image tothe MFP cooperative server 120 along with the scanned image data and theinformation, such as the file name set at the time of being transformedinto a file (S516). In the MFP cooperative server 120 having receivedthe save request, the request control unit 431 returns a response to theMFP 110, which indicates that the save request has been receivednormally, as well as starting file generation processing. The MFP 110having received the response terminates the processing and the statereturns to the state where the Scan setting screen is displayed (S504).On the other hand, the MFP cooperative server 120 acquires informationon the file format from the scan setting registered in advance andtransforms the scanned image into a file in accordance with the fileformat (S517). At this time, to the generated file, the file namespecified in the save request is attached. The scanned image file thusgenerated is transmitted to and saved in the storage server (S518).

The above is the flow of the processing of the entire image processingsystem.

<Details of Processing of MFP>

Following the above, by focusing attention on the operation in the MFP110, processing in a case where the storage service is used in theabove-described image processing system is explained in detail. FIG. 12is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in the MFP 110. The seriesof processing is implemented by the CPU 211 executing the controlprogram stored in the HDD 214 in the control unit 210 and started inresponse to the pressing down of the “Scan and save in cloud storage”button 601 on the Main screen 600 described previously. In thefollowing, detailed explanation is given along the flowchart shown inFIG. 12. Symbol “S” at the top of each piece of processing means a step.

At S1201, the display control unit 421 displays the Login screen 700described previously. In a case where a user name and a password areinput to the input fields 702 and 703, respectively, on the Login screen700 and the pressing down of the “Login” button 701 is detected, theprocessing advances to S1202.

At S1202, the cooperative service request unit 423 transmits a requestfor log-in authentication to the MFP cooperative server 120. In a casewhere it is checked that the user is a genuine user by the log-inauthentication in the MFP cooperative server 120, the cooperativeservice request unit 423 receives an access token from the MFPcooperative server 120.

At S1203, in the MFP 110 having received the access token, the displaycontrol unit 421 displays the Scan setting screen 800 describedpreviously on the operation unit 220. In a case where a document is seton the document table by the log-in user and the pressing down of the“Start scan” button 801 is detected, the display control unit 421notifies the scan control unit 422 of that.

At S1204, the scan control unit 422 having received the above-describednotification instructs the scan execution unit 411 to perform the scanprocessing. Upon receipt of the instructions, the scan execution unit411 scans the document placed on the document table. In the explanationof this flow, it is assumed that explanation is given by taking abusiness form (more specifically, an estimation form) as an example ofthe scan target. Due to this, the scanned image of an estimation form asshown in FIG. 13 is obtained. The scanned image data generated by thescan is saved in the scanned image management unit 412 and the displaycontrol unit 421 is notified of the identifier capable of specifying thescanned image. At this time, it may also be possible to display amessage screen (not shown schematically) indicating that the scan is inprogress on the operation unit 220.

Next, at S1205, the cooperative service request unit 423 acquires thescanned image data via the scan control unit 422 and transmits thescanned image data to the MFP cooperative server 120 along with theanalysis request. In the MFP cooperative server 120, based on theanalysis request, the image analysis processing described previously isperformed for the received scanned image data. At that time, a requestID is returned from the request control unit 431 of the MFP cooperativeserver 120.

At S1206, the cooperative service request unit 423 having acquired therequest ID transmits an acquisition request for the processing status tothe MFP cooperative server 120 along with the request ID. Based on theacquisition request, the MFP cooperative server 120 returns a responsein accordance with the progress situation of the image analysisprocessing specified by the request ID to the MFP 110.

At S1207, the cooperative service request unit 423 returns to S1206 in acase where the status in the received response is “processing”indicating that the processing is in progress. Then, after waiting untila predetermined time elapses, the cooperative service request unit 423transmits the acquisition request for the processing status again to theMFP cooperative server 120. In a case where the status in the receivedresponse is “completed” indicating that the processing is completed, theprocessing advances to S1208. Here, the information on the imageanalysis results included in the response at the time of completion ofthe processing in the present embodiment is explained with reference toFIG. 9C described previously. As the information on the image analysisresults, there are three kinds of information: “ocrResultUrl”,“matchingResultUrl”, and “formKeys”. The information “ocrResultUrl” isinformation on the URL for acquiring the results of the OCR processingof the image analysis processing. The information “matchingResultUrl” isinformation on the URL for acquiring the results of the similar businessform determination processing of the image analysis processing. Theinformation “formKeys” is information on the setting value for setting aproperty, such as the file name, the metadata, and the folder path, to ascanned image and is set in advance in the MFP cooperative server 120.In “formKeys”, the following information is included.

key: value uniquely indicating the setting value that is set to ascanned image

keyType: value indicating the type of the setting value of key

value: initial value of the setting value (for example, “scan”indicating a scanned image)

type: value indicating the kind of value that is input to the settingvalue (for example, “string” for character string, “number” fornumerical value, “date” for date, and the like)

displayName; display name in a case where the setting screen isdisplayed on the touch panel of MFP

required: value indication whether input of the setting value isindispensable

multiSelect: value indicating whether character strings of a pluralityof character areas are used for the file name

separator: contents of the separator connecting character strings in acase where character strings of a plurality of character areas are used

autoInput: value indicating whether automatic input of the initial filename is performed.

In FIG. 9C, “formKeys” in a case where a file name is set to a scannedimage is shown. By taking the case of FIG. 9C as an example, how eachvalue of “value”, “displayName”, “required”, and “multiSelect” affectsthe File name setting screen (FIG. 10) that is displayed at next S1209is explained. Now, the contents of “value” are empty. In this case, in afile name input field 1001 on a File name setting screen 1000, noinitial value is displayed. Further, “displayName” is “file name”. Inthis case, as in the case with the File name setting screen 1000 in FIG.10, the character string of “file name” indicating the title or thelabel of the setting is displayed at the upper portion of the screen (inthis example, by outline characters on a colored background). Further,“required” is “true”. In this case, in the state where no characterstring is input in the file name input field 1001, it is no longerpossible to press down a Transmit button 1007. Further, “multiSelect” is“true”. In this case, it is made possible to select a plurality ofcharacter areas detected from a scanned image, and therefore, it ispossible to set a file name connecting the character stringcorresponding to each character area. The above-described contentsincluded in “formKeys” are set by a user via a File name conditionsetting screen that is displayed by the display control unit 435 of theMFP cooperative server 120. FIG. 14 shows an example of a File namecondition setting screen. A checkbox 1401 within a File name conditionsetting screen 1400 is used by a user for selecting whether or not toautomatically input a file name by using the information on thecharacter area used at the time of file name setting of a scanned imagebefore. In a setting field 1402, the separator that is inserted betweencharacter strings is set among alternatives (underscore, hyphen, and thelike) displayed in a pull-down list in a case where a plurality ofcharacter strings corresponding to a plurality of character areas isused for the file name. Here, the underscore is selected. A settingfield 1403 is brought into the input state in advance at the time ofinitial display of the File name setting screen (FIG. 10) and thecharacter string (initial file name) that is presented to a user as thecandidate of the file name is set. The contents that are set on thisFile name condition setting screen 1400 are stored in the datamanagement unit 434 and referred to in a case where the response at thetime of completion of the processing is created.

At S1208, the cooperative service request unit 423 accesses the URLincluded in the response at the time of completion of the processing andacquires the image analysis results. In the example in FIG. 9C,information is stored in “ocrResultUrl” and “matchingResultUrl”, andtherefore, the cooperative service request unit 423 accesses these twoURLs and acquires the image analysis results. The following Table 1shows the coordinates of the character area detected from the scannedimage in FIG. 13 and the character recognition results (recognizedcharacter string) of each character area.

TABLE 1 X- Y- Width Height coordinate coordinate of of No. of area ofarea area area Character string within area 1 1019 303 489 95 Estimationform 2 261 446 243 43

 100-9999 3 1584 446 262 36 Estimation No.: 4 1874 443 230 47 R12-3456 5255 531 798 47 B-B-B, Minato-ku, Tokyo 6 1671 530 165 44 Date of issue:7 1872 527 259 54 2017 Sep. 10 8 406 626 594 71 Shinagawa Inc. 9 1164636 112 55 To 10 456 1186 105 55 Item 11 1102 1188 100 55 Unit price 121510 1188 101 55 Quantity 13 2043 1187 113 57 Amount 14 400 1356 230 45GF-1544 15 1023 1358 180 45 11,550 16 1562 1358 27 46 3 17 2023 1358 18251 34,650 18 398 1447 230 54 EF24-70 19 1003 1448 203 47 134,100 20 15721448 10 47 1 21 2003 1448 204 47 134,100 22 1517 2038 128 63 Total 231950 2042 250 58 168,750 24 972 2770 581 72 Kawasaki Inc. 25 1167 2925615 43 2-2-2, Yokohama-shi Kanagawa prefecture

Then, FIG. 15 shows the character recognition results for the scannedimage in FIG. 13, which are acquired by accessing “ocrResultUrl”. Here,“imageWidth” indicates the number of pixels in the X-direction(transverse direction) of the analysis-target scanned image and“imageHeight” indicates the number of pixels in the Y-direction(longitudinal direction) of the analysis-target scanned image. In“regions”, coordinate information (“rect”) on the character areadetected from the scanned image and character string information(“Text”) corresponding to the character area are included. In “rect”,information specifying the detected character area is included, “x”indicates the X-coordinate of the top-left corner of the character area,“y” indicates the Y-coordinate of the top-left corner of the characterarea, “width” indicates the number of pixels in the X- (width) directionof the character area, and “height” indicates the number of pixels inthe Y- (height) direction of the character area. Then, “text” indicatesinformation on the character string obtained by performing the OCRprocessing for the character area specified by “rect”. The information“rect” and “text” is included so as to correspond to all the characterareas detected within the analysis-target scanned image. However, inFIG. 15, part thereof is omitted.

Then, FIG. 16 shows the similar business form determination results forthe scanned image in FIG. 13, which are acquired by accessing“matchingResultUrl”. In “matched”, “true” or “false” is input as thevalue indicating whether a scanned image similar to the analysis-targetscanned image of this time is found among the past scanned images by thesimilar business form determination processing described previously. Acase where the value is “true” indicates that the scan-target businessform of this time is similar to the business form scanned before and acase of “false” indicates that the scan-target business form of thistime is not similar to the business form scanned before. In “formID”, avalue (ID value) uniquely indicating the scanned image of the pastsimilar business form is input in a case where a similar business formis found. On the other hand, in a case where a similar business form isnot found, an ID value created newly is input, which uniquely indicatesthe scanned image of the business form for which the scan has beenperformed this time. Then, the ID value created newly is used in a casewhere the input information (configuration information on the file name)at the time of the file name setting for the scanned image of thebusiness form for which no similar business form existed in the past iscaused to be learned. In “matchingScore”, a value indicating thematching rate in a case where there is a similar business form. Thesimilarity of the present embodiment represents the matching ratebetween the arrangement information on the character area in the pastscanned image and the arrangement information on the character area inthe scanned image of this time by a real number value between 0 and 1,and it is indicated that the larger the value, the more similar theyare. In “rectInfoArray”, information indicating the character area inthe analysis-target scanned image of this time is input, whichcorresponds to the character area used at the time of the file namesetting for the scanned image of the past similar business form.

In a case of the example in FIG. 16, for the scanned image in FIG. 13,which is obtained by scanning an estimation form, the file name is setby using two character strings, that is, “Estimation form” and“Shinagawa Inc.” and learning of the input information is performed.After that, an estimation form created with the same format is scannedand the scanned image shown in FIG. 17 is generated, and as a result ofperforming the similar business form determination processing for thescanned image, it is determined that the scanned image is similar to thescanned image in FIG. 13. Then, the example in FIG. 16 shows the statewhere the information on the character area used at the time of filename setting for the scanned image in FIG. 13 is stored as theinformation on the automatic input-target character area. In thefollowing, the process until the results of the similar business formdetermination processing shown in FIG. 16 are obtained is explained.

As the premise, it is assumed that the learning results based on thelearning request in FIG. 11 described previously are saved in the datamanagement unit 434. Then, in the similar business form determinationprocessing, by using the coordinate information on the character areasof “Estimation form” and “Shinagawa Inc.” used at the time of theprevious file name setting, the character area whose part overlaps thecharacter area indicated by the coordinate information among thecharacter areas included in the scanned image of this time is specified.Then, the coordinate information on the character area whose part isspecified to overlap and the character string of the character area arestored in “text” of “rectInfoArray”. In “key”, a value uniquelyindicating the character area used for the automatic input of the filename is input. In “region”, the coordinate information on the characterarea uniquely indicated by “key” and the character string obtained bythe OCR processing for the character area are stored. Then, in “rect”,the information specifying the character area uniquely indicated by“key” is included. In this case, “x” indicates the X-coordinate of thetop-left corner of the character area, “y” indicates the Y-coordinate ofthe top-left corner of the character area, “width” indicates the numberof pixels in the X- (width) direction of the character area, and“height” indicates the number of pixels in the Y- (height) direction ofthe character area. Then, the information on the character stringobtained by performing the OCR processing for the character areaspecified by “rect” is input in “text”. In “metadataArray”, the order ofthe character areas used at the time of automatically inputting a filename and information indicating where the separator is inserted arestored. In a case where property information, such as metadata, is setin addition to a file name, in “rectInfoArray” and “metadataArray”,necessary information is added. In “key”, a value uniquely indicatingthe setting value that is set to the scanned image is stored. In“keyType”, a value indicating the type of the setting value of “key” isstored. In a case of being used for a file name, in “key”, “filename” isinput and in “keyType”, “filename” is input. In “value”, the characterarea used for the value of “key” and the information on the separatorare stored. In the example in FIG. 16, the character string of thecharacter area having “key” of “fileRegion0” in “rectInfoArray” is thefirst, the separator is the second, and the character string of thecharacter area having “key” of “fileRegion1” is the third. Then, in thisorder, they are automatically input in the file name input field 1001and displayed as the initial file name.

At S1209, the display control unit 421 displays the File name settingscreen 1000 described previously on the operation unit 220 so that it ispossible for a user to perform setting of a file name for a scannedimage. Details of this file name setting processing will be describedlater.

At S1210, the cooperative service request unit 423 determines whether ornot the file name automatic input is set and determines the nextprocessing by referring to the response to the request for theprocessing status at S1206. Specifically, the cooperative servicerequest unit 423 refers to the value of “autoInput” included in theresponse at the time of completion of the processing shown in FIG. 9Cdescribed previously and in a case of “true” meaning that the automaticinput is performed, the processing advances to S1211. On the other hand,in a case of “false” meaning that the automatic input is not performed,the processing advances to S1214.

At S1211, the cooperative service request unit 423 determines whether ascanned image similar to the scanned image of this time existed in thepast based on the image analysis results acquired at S1208.Specifically, the cooperative service request unit 423 refers to thevalue of “matched” included in the results of the similar business formdetermination processing shown in FIG. 16 described previously and in acase of “true” indicating that a similar scanned image exists in thepast scanned images, the processing advances to S1212. On the otherhand, in a case of “false” indicating that a similar scanned image doesnot exist, the processing advances to S1214.

At S1212, the cooperative service request unit 423 determines whether auser has changed the initial file name automatically input in the filename input field 1001 in the file name setting processing at S1209. Thechanging in this case includes, for example, changing the character areaused for the file name of this time to one different from the characterarea used in the initial file name, adding or deleting a separator, andthe like. Then, this determination is performed by comparing the valueof “value” of “metadataArray” included in the results of the similarbusiness form determination processing in FIG. 16 with the informationinput in the file name input field 1001 after performing the file namesetting for the scanned image of this time. As a result of thecomparison, in a case where there is a difference, it is determined thatthe initial file name has been changed and the processing advances toS1213, and in a case where they match with each other, it is determinedthat the initial file name has not been changed and the processingadvances to S1214. As regards the top character string of the file namethat is automatically input by “value” of “formKeys”, it may also bepossible for the processing to advance to S1214 without regarding thatthe input information has changed even though the character string hasbeen deleted by a user.

At S1213, the cooperative service request unit 423 transmits thelearning request (see FIG. 11 described previously) for the inputinformation at the time of setting, which represents the configurationof the file name set for the scanned image of this time, to the MFPcooperative server 120. As “formId” included in the learning request inthis case, the value of “formId” included in the similar business formdetermination processing results of the image analysis results acquiredat S1208 is used. In the example in FIG. 16,“aaaaaaaa-ffff-49ab-acf8-55558888eeee” is input as the value of“formId”, and therefore, this is stored in the learning request.Further, in “learningContent”, the contents of the input informationused at the time of file name setting are stored. First, in“rectInforArray”, the coordinate information on the character area towhich the character string used for the file name belongs is stored soas to correspond to the number of character areas. Then, in“metadataArray”, the information on the character area used for the filename setting and on the separator is stored. To explain the operationperformed by a user at this time with reference to Table 1 describedpreviously, first, the user touches “Estimation form” with No. 1 in apreview area 1002 on the File name setting screen 1000. Next, the usertouches “Shinagawa Inc.” with No. 8 and presses down the Transmit button1007 lastly. The MFP cooperative server 120 having received the learningrequest accumulates the input information based on the user operationsuch as this and uses the accumulated input information in the next andsubsequent image analysis processing. In a case of receiving theresponse to the effect that the learning request has been processednormally from the MFP cooperative server 120 after transmitting thelearning request, the processing advances to S1214.

At S1214, the cooperative service request unit 423 associates theprocessing-target scanned image data and the file name set at S1209 witheach other and transmits them to the MFP cooperative server 120. In acase where this transmission is completed, this processing ends. In thepresent embodiment, the transmission of the scanned image data and thefile name thereof is performed last, but it may also be possible totransmit them to the MFP cooperative server 120 in parallel at the pointof time of saving of the scanned image data by the scanned imagemanagement unit 412 after the scan processing is completed.

The above is the flow of the processing in a case where the storageservice focusing attention on the operation in the MFP 110 is used. Inthe above-described explanation, the scene is supposed in which the filename setting at the time of transforming one scanned image obtained byscanning one estimation form into a file is performed. However, thepresent embodiment is not limited to this and it is also possible toapply the present embodiment also to the scene in which the file namesetting at the time of transforming a plurality of scanned imagesobtained by scanning a plurality of estimation forms into a file isperformed. In this case, it may also be possible to provide a button toturn pages within the File name setting screen 1000 so as to make itpossible to set a file name also from the character area in the scannedimage on the second page or the third page.

(S)

Following the above, the file name setting processing performed by thedisplay control unit 421 at S1209 described previously is explained indetail along the flowchart shown in FIGS. 18A, 18B, 19A and 19B.

At S1801, the file name (initial file name) is generated, which isdisplayed in the initial state in the file name input field 1001 on theFile name setting screen 1000 described previously. The initial filename is generated by the following procedure. First, the display controlunit 421 refers to the response at the time of completion of theprocessing described previously and sets the value to the top of thefile name in a case where some value is input in “value” of “formKeys”.For example, in a case where a character string of “scan” is input as“value” of “formKeys”, the display control unit 421 sets “scan” to thetop of the initial file name. Next, in accordance with the similarbusiness form determination results acquired by accessing“mathingResultUrl”, the display control unit 421 sets a predeterminedcharacter string. That is, in a case where the value of “matched” is“true” and “matchingScore” is a numerical value larger than or equal toa predetermined value (for example, 0.6 or larger), the display controlunit 421 sets a character string in accordance with the file nameconfiguration specified by “value” of “metadataArray”. Specifically, thedisplay control unit 421 sets the character string of the character areaspecified by “rectInfoArray” in accordance with the order specified in“value”. In the example of the similar business form determinationresults, the value “matched” is “true” and “matchingScore” is “0.74 . .. ”, and therefore, this is a numerical value larger or equal to thepredetermined value. Then, in “value” of “metadataArray”, thearrangement is specified in which “fileRegion0” is the first,“separator” is the next, and “fileRegion1” is the last. Consequently,“Estimation form”, which is the value of “text” of “fileRegion0”,“_(underscore)”, which is the value of “separator” included in theprocessing completion response, and “Shimomaruko Inc.”, which is thevalue of “text” of “fileRegion1”, are connected in this order. In thismanner, “Estimation form_Shimomaruko Inc.” is generated as the initialfile name. In a case where some value (for example, “scan_”) is input in“value” of “formKeys”, “scan_Estimation form Shimomaruko Inc.”, which isobtained by adding “scan_” to “Estimation form_Shimomaruko Inc.”, is theinitial file name. In the similar business form determination results,in a case where the value of “matched” is “false” and “matchedScore” isa numerical value less than the predetermined value, on a condition thata character string is input in “value” of “formKeys”, the characterstring is taken as the initial file name as it is. Further, in a casewhere no character string is input in “value” of “formKeys”, no initialfile name is displayed (empty field). In the present embodiment, the twovalues, that is, the value of “matched” and the value of“matchingScore”, that is, information specified in “rectInfoArray” inaccordance with the order of “value” of “metaArray” is taken as thecondition of the initial file name generation. However, the condition isnot limited to this and it may also be possible to take one of theresults as the condition. For example, it may also be possible togenerate the initial file name by taking only that the value of“matched” is “true” as the condition, or generate the file name bytaking only that the value indicating the similarity is larger than orequal to a threshold value as the condition.

At S1802, to which extent the scanned image is reduced (hereinafter,called “initial magnification”) and displayed at the time of displayingthe scanned image in the initial state in the preview area 1002 on theFile name setting screen 1000 is determined. For the determination ofthe initial magnification, the character recognition results acquired byaccessing “ocrResultUrl” are used. First, among all the character areasdetected within the scanned image, the leftmost character area and therightmost character area are found respectively. In this case, theleftmost character area is the character area whose value of thex-coordinate is the minimum value among all the character areas.Further, the rightmost character area is the character area whose totalvalue of the value of the x-coordinate and the value of the width of thecharacter area is the maximum among all the character areas. Themagnification that causes the left side of the leftmost character areathus determined to match with the left side of the preview area 1002 andthe right side of the character area located at the rightmost positionto match with the right side of the preview area 1002 respectively isdetermined as the initial magnification. In a case where the ends of thedetermined character areas are caused to match with the ends of thepreview area perfectly, there is a possibility that it is not easy for auser to make a selection (perform pressing down) on a condition that thecharacter area is small, and therefore, it may also be possible todetermine the initial magnification by giving a predetermined amount ofmargin. For example, the initial magnification is determined so that amargin corresponding to ten pixels is secured between the left end ofthe preview area 1002 and the left end of the character area that isdisplayed at the leftmost position within the preview area 1002, andbetween the right end of the preview area 1002 and the right end of thecharacter area that is displayed at the rightmost position. Further, ina case where UI components, such as various operation buttons, aredisplayed in an overlapping on the preview area 1002, it may also bepossible to determine the initial magnification so that the characterarea does not overlap the UI components. Specifically, it may also bepossible to determine the initial magnification so that, aftersubtracting the width of the UI components from the width of the previewarea 1002, the leftmost character area and the rightmost character areaare included within the width of the remaining area. In the example ofthe File name setting screen 1000 in FIG. 10 described previously, threeoperation buttons (enlargement button 1004, reduction button 1005, andrestoration button 1006) exist within the preview area 1002, andtherefore, the initial magnification is determined so that the characterarea does not overlap these buttons. Further, there is a case whereheader information or the like relating to printing processing isprinted in the vicinity of the top, bottom, left, and right ends of ascan-target business form and the possibility that the character stringof the character area corresponding to the header information or thelike such as this is adopted as a part of a file name is faint.Consequently, it may also be possible to exclude the character areaexisting within a predetermined distance (for example, 50 pixels) fromthe top, bottom, left, and right ends of a scanned image at the time offinding the above-described leftmost and rightmost character areas.

At S1803, which portion of the scanned image after enlargement/reductionwith the initial magnification determined at S1802 is displayed in theinitial state within the preview area 1002 on the File name settingscreen 100 is determined. In the scanned image afterenlargement/reduction is performed with the magnification determined atS1802 described above, the width within which the leftmost characterarea and the rightmost character area are included substantially matcheswith the width of the preview area 1002. Consequently, first, in thehorizontal direction, the portion that is displayed in the initial state(hereinafter, called “initial display portion”) is determined so thatthe leftmost and rightmost character areas are just included in thepreview area 1002, for example, the left side of the leftmost characterarea matches with the left side of the preview area 1002. After that,the initial display portion in the vertical direction is determined sothat the uppermost character area is located in the vicinity of the topend of the preview area 1002. At this time, in a case where a margin istaken into consideration at the time of determination of the initialmagnification, it is sufficient to determine the initial display portionby similarly taking into consideration the margin. For example, it mayalso be possible to exclude the character area existing within apredetermined distance (for example, 50 pixels) from the top end of thescanned image from the display target and determine the initial displayportion so that the character area located at the uppermost positionamong the character areas other than the character area is displayed atthe top end of the preview area 1002. FIG. 20 is a diagram showing theinitial display portion determined for the scanned image in FIG. 13. Theline frame in FIG. 20 indicates the range of the scanned image displayedin the initial state in the preview area 1002. As a result ofdetermining the initial display portion as described above, there is acase where the character area of the character string is not displayedin the preview area 1002, which is used for the initial file name on acondition that a similar business form exists and the initial file nameis automatically input in the file name input field 1001. In this case,it is sufficient to determine the initial display portion so that thecharacter area of the character string used for the initial file name isdisplayed in the center of the preview area 1002. At this time, it mayalso be possible to highlight (for example, change the color of) thecharacter string configuring the initial file name automatically inputin the file name input field 1001 and the character area of thecharacter string used for the initial file name. FIG. 21 is an exampleof the File name setting screen 1000 in a case where a character stringof “Kawasaki Inc.” is automatically input as the initial file name inthe scanned image in FIG. 13. Here, the character area and the characterstring “Kawasaki Inc.” that is input in the file name input field 1001are displayed so that the character area corresponding to the characterstring “Kawasaki Inc.” is located in the center of the preview area 1002and further, the color thereof is changed. At this time, in a case wherethe character size in the character area that is highlighted is small,it may also be possible to adjust the initial magnification so as toattain an appropriate character size. It is possible to obtain theinitial magnification after the adjustment based on, for example, thesize of the touch panel of the operation unit 220 and the range that isdisplayed in the initial state in the preview area 1002. Specifically,it is sufficient to find the point of the character size based on theheight of the character area of the character string used for theinitial file name and adjust the initial magnification of the preview sothat the found point becomes larger than or equal to a threshold value(larger than or equal to a predetermined size).

At S1804, by using the processing results at S1801 to S1803, the Filename setting screen 1000 described previously is displayed on theoperation unit 220. A user sets a file name of the scanned image that issaved in the storage server 130 by using the File name setting screen1000 illustrated in FIG. 10. In the following, this is explained indetail.

1) File Name Input Field

In a case where a user touches the file name input field 1001, thedisplay of the touch panel of the operation unit 220 switches to a softkeyboard and it is possible to input an arbitrary character, edit anautomatically input character string, and so on. For example, in a casewhere a user touches the character string portion in the file name inputfield 1001 in which “Kawasaki Inc.” is input automatically as in theexample in FIG. 21 described previously, a soft keyboard 2200 shown inFIG. 22 is displayed. At this time, as shown in FIG. 22, the softkeyboard 2200 is displayed in the state where the touched characterstring is input in an input area 2201. Due to this, it is possible for auser to modify the touched character string “Kawasaki Inc.” by operatingthe soft keyboard 2200. Further, in a case where the file name inputfield 1001 in the state where no character string is input as shown inFIG. 10 is touched, the soft keyboard 2200 in the state where nothing isinput in the input area 2201 is displayed and it is possible for a userto input an arbitrary character string in the file name input field 1001by operating the soft keyboard 2200.

2) Preview Area

In the preview area 1002, as described previously, the specific portionof the scanned image for which magnification processing has beenperformed is displayed. Then, in a case where a user touches and selectsan arbitrary character area within the preview area 1002, the characterstring of the selected character area is added to the file name inputfield 1001. At this time, it may also be possible to highlight theselected character area by underlining the character area correspondingto the selection, enclosing the character area by a frame, coloring thecharacter area, and so on, so that it is known that the character areais selected. Further, it may also be possible to change the displayportion, change the display magnification, and so on, so that theselected character area is located in the center. Furthermore, in a casewhere a plurality of character areas is selected, it may also bepossible to make the display aspect of the character area differ fromone another by coloring the respective character areas in differentcolors. Then, in a case where a user touches the character area onceselected again, the selected state is cancelled (that is, the line orcolor attached to the character area is deleted and the original statereturns) and the character string corresponding to the character areawithin the file name input field 1001 is also deleted. In the presentembodiment, in the state where no character area is selected, the frameor the like indicating each character area is not displayed in thepreview area 1002. However, it may also be possible to display inadvance a frame or the like indicating each character area so that auser can recognize the portion the user can touch and change the colorof the portion in a case where the portion is selected, and so on.Further, it may also be possible to enable a user to switch whether todisplay a frame or the like so that each character area is recognized bya button or the like. Then, it is possible for a user to move the imageportion that is displayed by performing the swipe operation in thepreview area 1002.

3) Various Operation Buttons

A “x” mark button 1003 is a deletion button for deleting the lastcharacter string of the character string that is input in the file nameinput field 1001. The “+” mark button 1004 is an enlargement button fordisplaying the image being displayed in the preview area 1002 in theenlarged state and is used in a case where it is desired to display eachcharacter area in the enlarged state. The “−” mark button 1005 is areduction button for displaying the image being displayed in the previewarea 1002 in the reduced state and is used in a case where it is desiredto display a wider range. In a case where enlargement or reduction isperformed, the display position is adjusted so that the coordinates ofthe center in the preview area 1002 are the same before and afterenlargement or reduction is performed. The “U-turn arrow” mark button1006 is a restoration button for returning the preview area 1002 to theinitial display state in a case where the display position has beenmoved by the swipe operation or the display magnification has beenchanged by pressing down the enlargement button 1004 or the reductionbutton 1005. The “Transmit” button 1007 is a button for transforming ascanned image into a file with the file name set on the File namesetting screen 1000 and saving the file in the storage server 130. Inresponse to the pressing down of the “Transmit” button 1007, the scannedimage data is transmitted to the MFP cooperative server 120 along withthe information on the set file name.

At S1805, an operation guidance is displayed within the File namesetting screen 1000 in the initial display state. By this operationguidance, it is also possible for a user who performs the operation forthe first time to easily understand that a file name can be set bytouching and selecting the character area within the preview area 1002.FIG. 23 shows the state where a message 2301 as the operation guidanceis displayed in an overlapping manner at the upper portion of thepreview area 1002 in the File name setting screen 1000 shown in FIG. 10.The operation guidance such as this is not necessary for a user whoalready knows the operation method, and therefore, the operationguidance is set to nondisplay at the point in time of detection of someuser operation, such as the touch operation and the swipe operation.Further, at the upper portion of a general document, in many cases,characters or figures having an important meaning for the documentexist, for example, such as the document title, the company name, thebusiness form No., and the date. Consequently, it may also be possibleto shift the image portion downward and so on, which is displayed in thepreview area 1002, in accordance with the attribute of the characterstring so that the character areas of these character strings having animportant meaning and the operation guidance do not overlap. Further, ina case where the operation guide overlap one of the character areas orin a case where the operation guide is included within a predetermineddistance from the character area, it is sufficient to determine thedisplay position of the operation guidance so that the operation guidedoes not overlap or does not become too close to the character area. Asdescribed above, by determining the display position of the operationguide flexibly instead of fixing the display position, it is made easierfor a user to select a character area.

S1806 is processing to monitor the presence/absence of a user operation.The presence/absence of a user operation is checked at predeterminedintervals and in a case where some user operation is detected, theprocessing advances to S1807. Then, at S1807, as described previously,the operation guidance is set to nondisplay.

S1808 to S18015 are determination processing to determine the nextprocessing in accordance with the contents of the detected useroperation. In a case where the processing corresponding to the detecteduser operation is completed, the processing returns to S1806 and thedetection of the next user operation is awaited.

At S1808, whether the detected user operation is the touch operation toone of the character areas within the preview area 1002 is determined.Specifically, first, the coordinates of the touched position aretransformed in association with the coordinates of the scanned image.Then, in a case where the coordinates after the transformation areincluded in one of the character areas specified in “regions” of thecharacter recognition results (see FIG. 15) described previously, it isdetermined that the user operation is the touch to the character area.In a case where the determination results indicate the touch to thecharacter area, the processing advances to S1816 and in a case where theuser operation is not the touch to the character area, the processingadvances to S1809. At S1816 in a case where the user operation is thetouch to the character area, whether the touched character area isalready selected is determined. In a case where the touched characterarea is a character area that is not selected yet, the processingadvances to S1817 and in a case where the touched character area is acharacter area that is already selected, the processing advances toS1818.

At S1817, the character string of the touched character area is added tothe file name input field 1001 and highlight processing to indicate thatthe character area is selected is performed for the character area. Atthis time, in a case where another character string is not input in thefile name input field 1001, the character string is added as it is.Then, that the character area is used for the file name setting isstored as input information at the time of the file name setting. On theother hand, in a case where a character string of another character areais already input in the file name input field 1001, after a separator isadded, the character string of the touched character area is added. Inthis case, in addition to the fact that the character area is used forthe file name setting, that the separator is inserted between thecharacter strings, such as that “first character area”, “separator”, and“second character area”, is also stored. FIG. 24 is a diagram showingthe File name setting screen 1000 in a case where the character areawhose characters are recognized as “Estimation form” is selected first,and following this, the character area whose characters are recognizedas “Shimomaruko Inc.” is selected. In the file name input field 1001,the two character strings corresponding to the order of the touchedcharacter areas are input and between the two character strings, anunderscore as the separator is input.

At S1818, the character string of the touched character area is deletedfrom the file name input field 1001 and the highlight indicating thatthe character area is selected is cancelled and the state returns to thenormal display state indicating that no character area is selected.Further, in a case where a separator is attached to the characterstring, the separator is also deleted together. For example, it isassumed that the fine name configuration used for the generation of theinitial file name is [“first character area”, “separator”, “secondcharacter area”]. In this case, on a condition that a user touches thecharacter area of “first character area”, the separator is also deletedtogether with the character string of the first character area and onlythe character string of “second character area” remains in the file nameinput field 1001.

At S1809 in a case where the detected user operation is not the touch tothe character area, whether the detected user operation is the swipeoperation within the preview area 1002 is determined. In a case wherethe swipe operation is detected, the processing advances to S1819 and inthe other cases, the processing advances to S1810.

At S1819, processing to move the image portion that is displayed in thepreview area 1002 in the direction of the swipe operation is performed.Specifically, in accordance with the amount of movement by which a usermoves his/her finger on the touch panel, the image portion that isdisplayed in the preview area 1002 is updated. It may also be possibleto limit the processing to a case where the touch operation in an areaother than the character area within the preview area 1002 is detected.Further, even though the user operation is the touch operation to thecharacter area, it may also be possible to handle the user operation asthe swipe operation without handling the user operation as the touch tothe character area in accordance to the amount by which a user moveshis/her finger after that.

At S1810, whether the detected user operation is the pressing down ofthe enlargement button 1004 or the reduction button 1005 is determined.In a case of the pressing down of the enlargement button 1004 or thereduction button 1005, the processing advances to S1820 and in the othercases, the processing advances to S1811.

At S1820, processing to enlarge or reduce the image portion beingdisplayed in the preview area 1002 is performed. Specifically, in a casewhere the enlargement button 1004 is pressed down, processing toincrease the magnification of the scanned image by a predeterminedamount is performed, and in a case where the reduction button 1005 ispressed down, processing to decrease the magnification of the scannedimage by a predetermined amount is performed. Here, the predeterminedamount is arbitrary, and for example, about 10% on the basis of thecurrent magnification. At this time, in a case where the initialmagnification exists or a magnification with which the width/height ofthe scanned image and the width/height of the preview area 1002 matchwith each other exists during the enlargement or the reduction by thepredetermined amount, the enlargement or the reduction may be stopped atthe magnification. The control is performed so that the image portion isnot reduced with a magnification or less with which the entire scannedimage is included within the preview area 1002 (minimum magnification)and the image portion is not enlarged with a magnification or more withwhich the minimum character area becomes a predetermined size (maximummagnification).

At S1811, whether the detected user operation is the pressing down ofthe restoration button 1006 is determined. In a case of the pressingdown of the restoration button 1006, the processing advances to S1821and in the other cases, the processing advances to S1812.

At S1821, processing to return the preview area 1002 to the initialdisplay state is performed. Specifically, processing to return themagnification of the scanned image that is displayed in the preview area1002 to the initial magnification determined at S1802 and further, toreturn the display portion in the preview area 1002 to the initialdisplay portion determined at S1803 is performed. At this time, in acase where the adjustment of the initial magnification and the initialdisplay portion has been performed, it is desirable to return themagnification and the display portion to the initial magnification andthe initial display portion after the adjustment.

At S1812, whether the detected user operation is the touch operation tothe character string input in the file name input field 1001 isdetermined. At this time, in a case where the touch operation to theblank area behind the character string input in the file name inputfield 1001 is detected, it is sufficient to handle the touch operationas the touch operation to the last character string. In a case of thetouch operation to the character string input in the file name inputfield 1001, the processing advances to S1822 and in the other cases, theprocessing advances to S1813.

At S1822, an editing soft keyboard in the state where the characterstring for which the touch operation has been performed is input in theinput area 2201 is displayed on the operation unit 220. Here, it isassumed that the File name setting screen 1000 is in the state shown inFIG. 24. In this state, in a case where the touch operation to thecharacter string “Estimation form” in the file name input field 1001 isdetected, the soft keyboard 2200 in the state where the character string“Estimation form” is input in the input area 2201 of the soft keyboardis displayed. Further, in a case where the touch operation to thecharacter string “Shimomaruko Inc.” or the touch operation to the blankarea behind the character string is detected, the soft keyboard 2200 inthe state where the characters “_Shimomaruko Inc.”, which is the lastcharacter string, are input in the input area 2201 is displayed. Theoperation of the soft keyboard 2200 is the same as that of a generalkeyboard, and therefore, explanation thereof is omitted. S1823 thatfollows is processing to monitor the presence/absence of a useroperation. The presence/absence of pressing down of an OK button 2202 inthe soft keyboard 2200 is checked at predetermined intervals and in acase where the pressing down of the OK button 2202 is detected, theprocessing advances to S1824. In a case where a key other than the OKbutton is pressed down, in accordance with the key that is pressed down,editing of the character string displayed in the input area 2201 isperformed. For example, it is possible for a user to modify a characterstring erroneously recognized in the character recognition processing byusing the soft keyboard 2200.

At S1824, whether the change to delete the separator has been performedis determined. In the present embodiment, this determination isperformed only in a case where the character string touched at S1812 isdisplayed along with the separator at S1822, and the character stringthat is displayed without the separator is handled as the characterstring for which deletion of the separator has not been performed. Thatis, in a case where the character string is displayed in the state wherethe separator is attached to the top of the character string, based onwhether the separator exists at the top of the character string at thepoint in time the OK button 2202 is pressed down, whether the editing ofthe character string to delete the separator has been performed isdetermined. For example, in a case where the touch operation to thecharacter string “Shimomaruko Inc.” is performed at S1812, as describedabove, the character string is displayed in the input area 2201 of thesoft keyboard 2200 in the state of “_Shimomaruko Inc.” in which theseparator is attached to the top. Then, by checking whether theseparator remains at the top, whether the deletion of the separator hasbeen performed is determined. Further, in a case where the touchoperation to the character string “Estimation form” is performed atS1812, as described above, in the input area 2201, “Estimation form” isdisplayed, and therefore, in this case, the character string is handledas that for which the change to delete the separator has not beenperformed.

In the example described above, explanation is given on the assumptionthat the character string to the top of which the separator is attachedis displayed in the input area 2201 in a case where the separator existsbefore the character string touched at S1812, but this is not limited.For example, in a case where the separator exists behind the characterstring touched at S1812, on a condition that the configuration is madeso that the touched character string is displayed in the input area 2201in the state where the separator is attached to the end of the characterstring, it is also possible to perform the same determination. That is,a case is explained where the configuration is made so that thecharacter string is displayed in the input area 2201 of the softkeyboard 2200 in the state where the separator is attached to the end ofthe character string, such as “Estimation form_”, in accordance with thetouch operation to the character string “Estimation form” in the examplein FIG. 24. In this case, it is sufficient to determine whether thedeletion of the separator has been performed by checking whether theseparator remains at the end at this step S1824.

In a case where it is determined that the deletion of the separator hasbeen performed at S1824, the processing advances to S1825. Then, atS1825, that the separator has been deleted from the file name is stored.For example, it is assumed that the file name configuration used for thegeneration of the initial file name is [“first character area”,“separator”, “second character area”]. At this time, in a case where auser touches the character string corresponding to the “second characterarea” in the file name input field 1001 and deletes the separator byusing the soft keyboard 2200, the file name configuration after thechange will be [“first character area”, “second character area”]. Then,the information on the file name configuration after this change isstored.

At S1826 that follows, whether the change to add a separator to the filename has been performed is determined. In a case where it is determinedthat a separator has been added, the processing advances to S1827. Then,at S1827, that a separator has been added to the file name is stored.For example, it is assumed that the file name configuration used for thegeneration of the initial file name is [“first character area”, “secondcharacter area”]. At this time, in a case where a user touches thecharacter string corresponding to the “second character area” in thefile name input field 1001 and adds a separator to the top thereof byusing the soft keyboard 2200, the file name configuration after thechange will be [“first character area”, “separator”, “second characterarea”]. Then, the information on the file name configuration after thischange is stored.

Then, at S1828, after the display screen of the operation unit 220 isreturned from the soft keyboard 2200 to the File name setting screen1000, the file names is modified to the contents after the change. Atthis time, it may also be possible to change the display portion of thescanned image so that the character area corresponding to the modifiedcharacter string is located in the center of the preview area 1002. Eventhough a part of the character string used for the file name ismodified, in a case where the fine name configuration is not changed,the information on the file name configuration is not stored newly.However, in a case where the modification to delete all the charactersincluded in a certain character string is performed, the file nameconfiguration is also changed. Consequently, in this case also (althoughthis is omitted in the flowchart), the configuration information on thefile name after the change is stored. For example, it is assumed thatthe file name configuration used for the generation of the initial filename is [“first character area”, “separator”, “second character area”].At this time, it is assumed that a user touches the character stringcorresponding to the “second character area” in the file name inputfield 1001 and deletes all the characters by using the soft keyboard2200. In this case, the separator that is no longer necessary is alsodeleted and the file name configuration after the change changes to[“first character area”], and therefore, the information on the filename configuration after the change is stored.

At S1813, whether the detected user operation is the touch operation tothe empty file name input field 1001 in the state where no characterstring is input is determined. In a case of the touch operation to theempty file name input field 1001, the processing advances to S1829 andin the other cases, the processing advances to S1814.

At S1829, a character string addition soft keyboard in the state wherenothing is input in the input area 2201 is displayed on the operationunit 220. S1830 that follows is processing to monitor thepresence/absence of a user operation. The presence/absence of pressingdown of the OK button 2202 on the soft keyboard 2200 is checked atpredetermined intervals and in a case where the pressing down of the OKbutton 2202 is detected, the processing advances to S1831. Then, atS1831, after the display screen of the operation unit 220 is returnedfrom the soft keyboard 2200 to the File name setting screen 1000, theinput character string is added to the file name.

At S1814, whether the detected user operation is the pressing down ofthe deletion button 1003 is determined. In a case of the pressing downof the deletion button 1003, the processing advances to S1832 and in theother cases, the processing advances to S1815. At S1832, the lastcharacter string of the character string input in the file name inputfield 1001 is deleted. For example, in a case where the file nameconfiguration used for the generation of the initial file name is[“first character area”, “separator”, “second character area”], thecharacter string corresponding to the “second character area” is deletedby the pressing down of the deletion button 1003. As a result of this,the file name configuration after the deletion is [“first characterarea”] and the file name is only the character string corresponding tothe “first character area”. At this time, the character areacorresponding to the deleted character string is returned to the stateindicating that the character area is not selected in the preview area1002. Then, the information on the file name configuration after thechange is stored.

At S1815, whether the detected user operation is the pressing down ofthe Transmit button 1007 is determined. In a case of the pressing downof the Transmit button 1007, this processing is terminated and theprocessing advances to S1210 in the flowchart in FIG. 12.

The above is the contents of the file name setting processing performedat S1209.

Modification Example_1

In a case where the initial magnification determined at S1802(determination of initial magnification) described above based on theleftmost character area and the rightmost character area is followed,the average height of each character area displayed in a preview is lessthan a predetermined threshold value, it may also be possible to changethe initial magnification so that the average height becomes larger thanor equal to the predetermined threshold value. In this case, the“average height” may be the average for all the character areas or maybe the average for part of the character areas. As the example of theaverage for part of the character areas, mention is made of the averageof the heights of the character areas to be displayed in the previewarea 1002 with the determined initial magnification, the average of theheights of the character areas in a specific portion (for example, upperhalf portion) of a scanned image, and the like. A specific example isexplained. Here, it is assumed that the interval (width) between theleft end of the leftmost character area and the right end of therightmost character area is 2,000 px, the width of the preview area 1002is 800 px, and the predetermined threshold value is 15 px. Here, theinitial magnification that is calculated is 0.4 (=800÷2,000) and in acase where the average of the heights of all the character areas is 60px, the average of the heights of all the character areas is 24 px(=60×0.4) and this is not less than the predetermined threshold value,and therefore, 0.4 is taken as the initial magnification as it is. Onthe other hand, in a case where the average of the heights of all thecharacter areas is 30 px, the average of the heights of all thecharacter areas is 12 pix (=30×0.4). In this case, the average of theheights of all the character areas is less than the predeterminedthreshold value, and therefore, the initial magnification is changed to0.5 (=0.4×15÷12) so that the average becomes larger than or equal to thepredetermined threshold value (here, the average is the same value asthe threshold value). FIG. 25 shows an example of the initial display ofthe File name setting screen 1000 in a case where the average of theheights of the character areas does not satisfy the threshold value andthe initial magnification is adjusted. In this example, after theadjustment to increase the value of the initial magnification isperformed, the display portion is determined in accordance with the leftend of the leftmost character area and the top end of the uppermostcharacter area at S1803. As a result of that, the area corresponding tothe right side of the business form is no longer included in the displayportion, but the visibility of each character area existing within thepreview area 1002 is secured.

Modification Example_2

In a case where there is a plurality of character areas used for theinitial file name at S1803 (determination of initial display portion)described above, it may also be possible to determine the displayportion so that the uppermost character area of the used character areasis displayed in the preview area 1002. Further, it may also be possibleto determine the meaning and the type of the character string in eachcharacter area and adjust the display portion so that the character areahaving a strong possibility of being used for the file name is displayedwithin the preview area 1002. Furthermore, it may also be possible todetermine the display portion so that the character areas correspondingto the number of character areas specified in advance are displayed inthe preview area 1002. Still furthermore, it may also be possible todetermine the display portion so that the middle point between theuppermost character area and the lowermost character area of thecharacter areas of the character strings used for the initial file nameis located in the center of the preview area 1002.

Modification Example_3

In a case where the initial file name in accordance with the file nameconfiguration of the similar business form is automatically input in thefile name input field 1001 at S1805 (display of operation guidance)described above, it may also be possible to display the operationguidance so as not to overlap the character area of the character stringused for the initial file name. At this time, a case is considered wherea plurality of character strings used for the initial file name existsand it is difficult to display the operation guidance so as not tooverlap those character areas. In the case such as this, it may also bepossible to give priority to the character area of the character stringlocated at the top of the initial file name and display the operationguidance so as to overlap part or the whole of the character area of thecharacter string located at the end. Further, in a case where a documentproperty other than the initial file name, for example, metadata is set,it may also be possible to determine the character area that should beavoided from being overlapped by the operation guidance in accordancewith the type of the document property and determine the displayposition of the operation guidance. For example, in a case where a valueis set to the document property whose type is date, the operationguidance is displayed so as not to overlap the character area of thedate in the target document. At this time, whether the character stringcorresponding to each character area is a date is determined bydetermining whether the character string extracted from the scannedimage corresponds to a specific character array. For example, in a casewhere figures are input to “yy”, “mm”, and “dd” respectively in theformat of yy/mm/dd, it is possible to determine that the characterstring is a date.

Modification Example_4

At above-described S1822 (display of editing soft keyboard), it may alsobe possible to display the editing soft keyboard in the state where theentire file name is input within the input area 2201 in place ofdisplaying the editing soft keyboard in the state where the touchedcharacter string is input. In this case, in order to prevent a user fromerroneously recognizing the editing target, the character string isdisplayed so that the range of the editing target is known byhighlighting (changing the color of, attaching a frame to, and so on)the character string to distinguish it from another character string,displaying the cursor at the end of the character string, and so on.Further, in place of displaying the editing soft keyboard in response tothe touch operation to the character string input in the file name inputfield 1001, it may also be possible to display the editing soft keyboardby waiting for a further additional user operation (for example,pressing down of a dedicated button, not shown schematically).

Modification Example_5

Further, in the explanation of the present embodiment, in a case wherethe touch operation to the character area by a user is detected, theprocessing (S1817, S1818) to add or delete the character string of thetouched character area to or from the file name is performed. However,there is a case where the response of the system is slow, and therefore,it takes time until the addition or deletion of the target characterstring is reflected in the file name after the touch operation isdetected. In this case, it is considered that a user erroneouslydetermines that the system does not respond to the touch operation ofthe user him/herself and repeats the touch operation several times forthe same character area. In the situation, there may be a case where theaddition and deletion of the character string of the same character areaare performed repeatedly and it is not possible to stop in the statedesired by the user. For example, in a case where a user touches adeletion-target character string a plurality of times, such a thing thatthe deletion-target character string is input again may occur.Consequently, in order to prevent the touch operation for the samecharacter area from being performed repeatedly during theaddition/deletion processing, it may also be possible to design thesystem so that the touch operation for new addition or deletion for thesame character area is not received until the addition/deletionprocessing is completed. At this time, it may also be possible todisplay a message indicating that the processing is in progresstogether. Due to this, in the input operation at the time of the filename setting, it is possible to prevent addition or deletion of acharacter string not intended by a user from being performed.

Other Embodiments

Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by acomputer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computerexecutable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on astorage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/orthat includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or moreof the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by thecomputer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out andexecuting the computer executable instructions from the storage mediumto perform the functions of one or more of the above-describedembodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). Thecomputer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processingunit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network ofseparate computers or separate processors to read out and execute thecomputer executable instructions. The computer executable instructionsmay be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or thestorage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or moreof a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM),a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as acompact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™),a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.

According to the technique of the present invention, it is possible toimplement deletion of an already-input character string with a simpleroperation without using a dedicated deletion button. Due to this, it ismade possible to delete a character string with less time and effort,and therefore, the operation efficiency of a user is improved.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2019-080362, filed Apr. 19, 2019 which is hereby incorporated byreference wherein in its entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image processing apparatus for setting aproperty to a scanned image obtained by scanning a document, the imageprocessing apparatus comprising: at least one memory that stores aprogram; and at least one processor that executes the program toperform: detecting character areas from the scanned image; controllingto display the scanned image and an input field for inputting a propertyto be set to the scanned image; controlling to input, in a case where auser selects one character area from among the detected character areasin the displayed scanned image and where no character string is input inthe input field, a first character string corresponding to the selectedone character area into the input field; controlling to add, in a casewhere the user selects one character area from among the detectedcharacter areas in the displayed scanned image and where one or moresecond character strings other than the first character stringcorresponding to the selected one character area are already input inthe input field, both of a separator and the first character stringcorresponding to the selected one character area to the one or moresecond character strings inputted in the input field; and controlling todelete, in a case where the user selects one character area from amongthe detected character areas in the displayed scanned image and whereone or more character strings including the first character stringcorresponding to the selected one character area are already input inthe input field, the first character string corresponding to theselected one character area from the one or more character strings beinginputted in the input field.
 2. The image processing apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the user selects the one character area by a touchoperation for the scanned image displayed on a touch panel display. 3.The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theproperty is a file name of the scanned image.
 4. The image processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the separator is an underscoreor a hyphen.
 5. A control method of an image processing apparatus forsetting a property to a scanned image obtained by scanning a document,the image processing apparatus comprising a user interface having atouch panel, the control method comprising: detecting character areasfrom the scanned image; controlling to display the scanned image and aninput field for inputting a property to be set to the scanned image;controlling to input, in a case where a user selects one character areafrom among the detected character areas in the displayed scanned imageand where no character string is input in the input field, a firstcharacter string corresponding to the selected one character area intothe input field; controlling to add, in a case where the user selectsone character area from among the detected character areas in thedisplayed scanned image and where one or more second character stringsother than the first character string corresponding to the selected onecharacter area are already input in the input field, both of a separatorand the first character string corresponding to the selected onecharacter area to the one or more second character strings inputted inthe input field; and controlling to delete, in a case where the userselects one character area from among the detected character areas inthe displayed scanned image and where one or more character stringsincluding the first character string corresponding to the selected onecharacter area are already input in the input field, the first characterstring corresponding to the selected one character area from the one ormore character strings being inputted in the input field.
 6. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program forcausing a computer to perform a control method of an image processingapparatus for setting a property to a scanned image obtained by scanninga document, the image processing apparatus comprising a user interfacehaving a touch panel, the control method comprising: detecting characterareas from the scanned image; controlling to display the scanned imageand an input field for inputting a property to be set to the scannedimage; controlling to input, in a case where a user selects onecharacter area from among the detected character areas in the displayedscanned image and where no character string is input in the input field,a first character string corresponding to the selected one characterarea into the input field; controlling to add, in a case where the userselects one character area from among the detected character areas inthe displayed scanned image and where one or more second characterstrings other than the first character string corresponding to theselected one character area are already input in the input field, bothof a separator and the first character string corresponding to theselected one character area to the one or more second character stringsinputted in the input field; and controlling to delete, in a case wherethe user selects one character area from among the detected characterareas in the displayed scanned image and where one or more characterstrings including the first character string corresponding to theselected one character area are already input in the input field, thefirst character string corresponding to the selected one character areafrom the one or more character strings being inputted in the inputfield.
 7. An apparatus for setting a property to a scanned imageobtained by scanning a document, the apparatus comprising: at least onememory that stores a program; and at least one processor that executesthe program to perform: controlling to display the scanned image and aninput field for inputting a property to be set to the scanned image;controlling to input, in a case where a user selects one character areain the displayed scanned image and where no character string is input inthe input field, a first character string corresponding to the selectedone character area into the input field; controlling to add, in a casewhere the user selects one character area in the displayed scanned imageand where one or more second character strings other than the firstcharacter string corresponding to the selected one character area arealready input in the input field, both of a separator and a firstcharacter string corresponding to the selected one character area to theone or more second character strings inputted in the input field; andcontrolling to delete, in a case where the user deselects one characterarea in the displayed scanned image and where one or more characterstrings including the first character string corresponding to thedeselected one character area are already input in the input field, thefirst character string corresponding to the deselected one characterarea from the one or more character strings being inputted in the inputfield.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein, in the case wherethe user selects one character area in the displayed scanned image andwhere no character string is input in the input field, the firstcharacter string corresponding to the selected one character area isinputted into the input field, and the selected one character area ishighlighted in the displayed scanned image.
 9. The apparatus accordingto claim 7, wherein, in the case where the user selects the onecharacter area in the displayed scanned image and where one or moresecond character strings other than the first character stringcorresponding to the selected one character area are already input inthe input field, both of a separator and a first character stringcorresponding to the selected one character area are added to the one ormore second character strings inputted in the input field, and both ofthe selected one character area and one or more character areascorresponding to the one or more second character strings arehighlighted in the displayed scanned image.
 10. The apparatus accordingto claim 7, wherein, the user deselects one character area in thedisplayed scanned image and where one or more character stringsincluding the first character string corresponding to the deselected onecharacter area are already input in the input field, the first characterstring corresponding to the deselected one character area is deletedfrom the one or more character strings being inputted in the inputfield, and the deselected one character area is not highlighted.
 11. Theapparatus according to claim 7, wherein the property is a file name ofthe scanned image.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein theseparator is an underscore or a hyphen.
 13. The apparatus according toclaim 7, wherein the first character string corresponding to theselected one character area is a character string that is obtained byperforming an optical character recognition processing to the selectedone character area.
 14. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein oneor more character strings which have been input in the input field isable to be edited by a user using a keyboard.
 15. A method for setting aproperty to a scanned image obtained by scanning a document, the methodcomprising: controlling to display the scanned image and an input fieldfor inputting a property to be set to the scanned image; controlling toinput, in a case where a user selects one character area in thedisplayed scanned image and where no character string is input in theinput field, a first character string corresponding to the selected onecharacter area into the input field; controlling to add, in a case wherethe user selects one character area in the displayed scanned image andwhere one or more second character strings other than the firstcharacter string corresponding to the selected one character area arealready input in the input field, both of a separator and a firstcharacter string corresponding to the selected one character area to theone or more second character strings inputted in the input field; andcontrolling to delete, in a case where the user deselects one characterarea in the displayed scanned image and where one or more characterstrings including the first character string corresponding to thedeselected one character area are already input in the input field, thefirst character string corresponding to the deselected one characterarea from the one or more character strings being inputted in the inputfield.
 16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing aprogram for causing a computer to perform a method for setting aproperty to a scanned image obtained by scanning a document, the methodcomprising: controlling to display the scanned image and an input fieldfor inputting a property to be set to the scanned image; controlling toinput, in a case where a user selects one character area in thedisplayed scanned image and where no character string is input in theinput field, a first character string corresponding to the selected onecharacter area into the input field; controlling to add, in a case wherethe user selects one character area in the displayed scanned image andwhere one or more second character strings other than the firstcharacter string corresponding to the selected one character area arealready input in the input field, both of a separator and a firstcharacter string corresponding to the selected one character area to theone or more second character strings inputted in the input field; andcontrolling to delete, in a case where the user deselects one characterarea in the displayed scanned image and where one or more characterstrings including the first character string corresponding to thedeselected one character area are already input in the input field, thefirst character string corresponding to the deselected one characterarea from the one or more character strings being inputted in the inputfield.